Richmond seeks $3.7 million in federal funds for protected bike lane, Southside sidewalk projects

Richmond’s Department of Public Works is hoping to get $3.7 million in federal funding to expand its protected bike lanes along Franklin Street near the VCU campus, as well as add sidewalks and other pedestrian safety features throughout Southside. 

If the city is successful, nearly 65% of the cost of four projects will be covered. Richmond would also have the chance to get additional funding through the Central Virginia Transportation Authority, a body the state created in 2020 to let the region pool money from gas and sales and use taxes for the purpose of paying for transportation improvements. 

The projects the city is hoping to get funded are: 

• The installation of protected bike lanes along Franklin Street between Lombardy Street and Belvidere Street, including “more robust and permanent physical barriers” that would separate bicycle and vehicle traffic.
• The addition of flashing beacons, high-visibility crosswalks, curb ramps and “channelizing islands” — areas between traffic lanes that are set off using paint, raised concrete, posts or other dividers — at the intersection of Forest Hill Avenue and Taylor Avenue, and the installation of curb extensions and flashing beacons on Forest Hill between Westover Hills Boulevard and 48th Street. 
• The construction of a half-mile-long sidewalk on Carnation Street from Hioaks Road to Warwick Road that will provide a “safe connection to needed commercial and health services.” 
• The construction of a 600-foot-long sidewalk on German School Road at Glenway Drive to complete “the last remaining sidewalk gap” along the residential stretch, “sidewalk improvements” up Glenway Drive to its intersection with Blakemore Road, and the addition of curb extensions on German School Road at Glenway Drive.

The federal money would come from the Transportation Alternatives Program, which in Virginia is administered by the Virginia Department of Transportation. 

Brantley Tyndall, director of Bike Walk RVA for Sports Backers, told a City Council committee June 17 that the Franklin Street funding in particular would “solve a very clear problem for bike riders.” 

“I really want to applaud the Department of Public Works for looking at increased barrier protections and just endorse their approach to using state funds, federal funds through the state,” he said. 

City Council is expected to vote on the projects Monday. 

Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at svogelsong@richmonder.org